Social Media: Valuable Pastime or Big Waste of Time?

Is social media a valuable pastime or a big waste of time? Huge topic of debate. Let’s weigh some pros and cons for using social media.

Did you know that 43% of small business owners spend six hours or more on social media per week; 25% spend between six and ten hours a week. 55% of small businesses have a blog. Whoa!

What if you aren’t a small business owner and just want to be on social media for personal use? How do most of us spend our online time? Check out this graphic by AdWeek.com:

So if I’m reading this correctly, we are spending an average of 42 minutes each day on Facebook, 21 minutes on Pinterest and 34 minutes on Tumblr. Does that mean that we’re aaaaaallll using Facebook, Pinterest, and Tumbler eeeeeeeveeeeryyyyday? Probably not. But, on average that’s over an hour and a half on social media! That’s a lot of time, people!!!

I’m not going to tell you want to do with your time. Social media can be incredibly important and beneficial to business owners. Using social media strategically will lead to higher rankings in search engine optimization, help build relationships and be more personal with their potential clients and lead to more business. 77% of Business to Consumer businesses find their leads on Facebook.

On a personal level, being plugged into social media means being connected to more people regularly. It’s possible to stay connected to your dad, grandma, second cousin, neighbor from three moves ago and high school best friend at the same time. Although there have been criticism over the lack of depth in our relationships when dependent on social media alone, the simple fact is that we are able to see and feel a connection to more people today an ever before. Being connected to like-minded people on social media can lead to more activism and political awareness.

Everything in moderation. You’ve heard that term, right? We need must balance our need to connect online with in-person relationships. We need to balance our time spent online marketing with getting other things accomplished in our businesses. We need to enjoy the stories and pictures shared on Instagram and Facebook while remembering to turn off the devices and look at the people right here, in the flesh. Look up and love life, not life through the screens. Is social media a valuable pastime or a big waste of time? You decide.